Political organizations

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — An alleged hit list of political opponents, a promise of access, heated denials, an audiotape and suspicions of a setup. Texas Republicans are reeling from an internal scandal that could threaten their two-decade dominance of the state Legislature in the nation's most populous...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., smiles after vote on a hard-won budget deal that would permit the government to resume borrowing to pay all of its obligations and would remove the prospect of a government shutdown in October, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the Senate departed for a five-week recess Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell hailed the chamber's accomplishments, including a hard-won budget deal that staves off a possible government shutdown. But topping McConnell's list were Senate votes this week confirming...

WASHINGTON (AP) — E-cigarette giant Juul Labs gave nearly $100,000 to members of Congress during the first half of 2019 as the company faced the bulk of the blame for a surge of underage vaping and calls for tighter government regulation of the industry. The donations from Juul's political action...

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., a former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined at left by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., rips a copy of the committee rules of procedure as he charges current Republican chairman Lindsey Graham with breaking the rules to bend to President Donald Trump on immigration policy, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee upended the rules Thursday to advance a controversial immigration bill as chairman Lindsey Graham muscled through a detention bill that Democrats oppose. It's one last battle, led by a top ally of President Donald Trump, before...

FILE - This Jan. 28, 2019, file photo shows marijuana buds in Akron, Ohio. Several county attorneys are pressuring Utah to scrap its plans for a state-run medical marijuana dispensary system, arguing the system would put public employees at risk of being prosecuted under federal drug laws. Attorneys from Salt Lake and Davis County said Tuesday, July 30, that current plans to use local health departments as pickup points for medical marijuana would make county employees de-facto drug dealers. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah officials preparing to launch the state's medical marijuana program next year face mounting pressure from county attorneys to scrap plans for a state-run dispensary system and lingering scrutiny from companies rejected for grower's licenses. The state announced Wednesday...

DETROIT (AP) — Joe Biden knows the attacks will be coming. The question for the former vice president in Wednesday's Democratic presidential debate will be whether he handles them in a way that restores confidence to his anxious supporters. With his party turning against itself on core issues,...

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Democrats in Mitch McConnell's home state are pitching "Moscow Mitch" merchandise to try and capitalize on a bitter dispute involving the Kentucky senator over election security legislation. The Kentucky Democratic Party said Wednesday it's launching the "Moscow Mitch"...

Former special counsel Robert Mueller testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 24, 2019, before the House Intelligence Committee hearing on his report on Russian election interference. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly half the House Democrats now support an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. That's according to a tally by The Associated Press on Wednesday. It shows 113 Democrats and one Republican in the House are publicly backing an inquiry. The number spiked in the...

In this July 26, 2019, photo, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. A hard-won, warts-and-all budget pact between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Donald Trump is facing a key vote in the GOP-held Senate, with many conservatives torn between supporting the president and risking their political brand with an unpopular vote to add $2 trillion or more to the government’s credit card. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A hard-won, warts-and-all budget pact between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Donald Trump is facing a key vote in the GOP-held Senate, with many conservatives torn between supporting the president and risking their political brand with an unpopular vote to add $2...

In this July 26, 2019, photo, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. A hard-won, warts-and-all budget pact between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Donald Trump is facing a key vote in the GOP-held Senate, with many conservatives torn between supporting the president and risking their political brand with an unpopular vote to add $2 trillion or more to the government’s credit card. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A hard-won, warts-and-all budget pact between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Donald Trump is facing a key vote in the GOP-held Senate. Many conservatives are torn between supporting the president and risking their political brand with an unpopular vote to add $2 trillion...